Swarm
by CaptainTigershadow
Summary: Neopia is under attack. The heroic team known as Trident Squad of the Sakhmet Militia might be able to save it, but at what cost? From the skirmish at Outpost 6B to the Battle for Shenkuu, epic and all-action. Rated T for graphical content and violence.
1. Skirmish at Outpost 6B

-Swarm-Part 1-Trident Squad-

Trident Squad was running down the small courtyard of Outpost 6B, Dodging bullets that flew through the open gate. They finally got out into the great Lost Desert and then each member of Trident Squad, Captain Tigershadow the Kougra, Corporal Trideli the Eyrie, Private H'dans the Scorchio, and Private Wajing the Xweetok, ran as fast as they could towards one of the walls scattered around the place to repel a bug attack.

Trident Squad is the professionals of the Sakhmet Militia, the best. They had one flaw though. If you counted the number of neopets, you would notice there are only four. Five is the appropriate number for a squadron. Private Lrasta the Wocky, Captured by the bugs, shot two times in the hind leg during the skirmish that lead to her capture. No one knows what happened to her and declared her missing in action. The only reason Captain Tigershadow refused for Queen Amira (who was Trident Squad's direct Commander because of their skill) to look for another Elite soldier as replacement was because he wanted to wear this as a scar, to show their 'Inferiors' as H'dans calls the other soldiers that even the best make mistakes.

Wajing ripped off a belt of SNOball grenades from the body of a fallen Usul and expertly aimed each one under the feet of a couple of bugs. Wajing ran to another wall, letting a Gelert take his place. When he got to the other wall he noticed that H'dans had been running for the same wall. They made a silent agreement and both took one side of the battered barrier.

"Where's Trideli?" shouted Wajing over the sound of blaster bolts and screams of falling soldiers. "he took his usual spot in the air! Put on his flight armor and took out a lot of their vehicles and tanks!" if you were confused by this, let's just say these bugs are an intelligent species. Wajing looked up to see the shape of an Eyrie shooting bugs with the guns built into his armor. Then H'dans unstrapped his signature weapon, a KanrikM-100 AP Slug cannon or a 'Slugger' as all the soldiers called it. He easily dispatched a slightly damaged enemy tank and used the last of his magazine to take out a winged bug that was about to attack Trideli. The Eyrie looked down to see who had just saved him, H'dans Grinned, and then replaced his Magazine.

Wajing then ran to a wall in front of his last one to inspire nearby soldiers to move on as well. Wajing fired at some bugs and then had to reload his rifle. Just as he had replaced the ammo pack a bug suddenly popped from behind his wall, trying to advance. Letting instinct take over for a second Wajing bashed the daylights out of the startled bug with his stock until it ceased buzzing and fell to the ground. Wajing ran to another wall a few yards away from him. As he ran, he saw something glint high above his head and then immediately rolled to the cover of burnt, destroyed tank. A group of unsuspecting, or, completely-suspecting soldiers near the place where he was previously at screamed as an explosive shell rained down on them, forming a crater full of bodies in the sand.

Wajing decided to stay at his current position and wait for someone to take out the enemy tank. After a minute of picking off passing bugs he finally heard an explosion as the enemy tank was destroyed by an anti-tank turret mounted on the wall of Outpost 6B. he was in the middle of getting up to continue running for another wall when he heard a yell that caught his attention, a nearby Aisha was wounded, he ran to it and, not having enough medical skills to help him at the moment, ran to a sturdy wall and slumped him behind it so the bugs couldn't finish their job on him.

Wajing ducked behind another wall. He saw a few more specks high in the air and was about to run when they stopped suddenly, and began descending towards 6B. The most beautiful thing a soldier can ever see descended towards him. Dropships, the kind with reinforcements. The dropships all landed, one soldier came out with A heavy-looking cannon which contained tear gas. Normally, this would be useless but the chemicals used to make it were poison to bug biology, 'Pesticide' if you wish. The bugs began to scurry about then a few of them fled until their way was blocked by the tear gas and the soldiers began firing. The bugs who did succeed in fleeing, were sniped by the dark ghillie-suited figures in 6B's high watchtowers. The scout troops or 'Moustaches' nobody really knows who started calling them moustaches but it sank in.

Their came a great shout from the victorious soldiers and silence from the soldiers lying in a crater or half buried in the sand. At the entrance of the fortified base squad leaders were calling out for their men to come to them. Only the Elite Squads like Trident Squad got cool names but the rest were just numbers such as Squad 67. Wajing saw Tigershadow and walked towards the Kougra, trying not to notice the bodies lying around him with a scream of terror still etched on their faces.

"Captain Tigershadow!" yelled Wajing. "Wajing! There's the last one. Let's return to the Squad dorms!" so Trident Squad walked down the hallways to clean up in the Trident Squad Dormitory. To everyone except the ones who were grieving over the losses of fellow soldiers, this was just another failed attempt for the bugs to penetrate Outpost 6B's defenses. After cleaning sand out of armor and polishing rifles, everyone returned to their duties as if nothing had happened. H'dans patrolled the perimeter of 6B's territory while Trideli replaced a damaged plate on his armor. Tigershadow went to confer with Queen Amira via hologram while Wajing returned to Trident Dorm.

IOs weren't really part of a squad and were only given to Elite Squads like Trident Squad. They were always the brains of an operation, coming up with backup plans, determining the amount of conflict, and messing around with enemy tech from a distance by hacking computers and downloading fatal viruses. They were only meant for thinking, not fighting, they could kill as long as it wasn't a full combat situation but the training an IO is given only involves the battle tactics needed for making a backup plan. They analyzed maps, scanned anomalies, and could think up a way to get out of an enemy prison while you're surrounded by bugs with shotguns all pointed at your face.

Wajing sat on his bed, reading a book when the speakers activated, it was Tigershadow, "Trident Squad. Report to Briefing room four. That includes you Drihy. Queen Amira wishes to bring something to our attention." Then there was a "_ck_" as the phone was hung up and the ready room returned to silence.

"Our scouts in the northwest pass have discovered something" said Amira through the speaker on her end. She was dressed in a uniform, the ones she usually wore when talking with miltia. "A bug prison base, Obviously a special one because of the cloaking device that hid it from our radar. It lies on the eastern side of the canyon, way up on top. I'm sending your squad on a special mission to retrieve more data for a successful air assault." Tigershadow began pacing the room and then said, "Wouldn't the Initial scout team have retrieved the data?" Amira hesitated then answered, "We lost contact with the team right after they transmitted the coordinates. Here are the last few seconds of the transmission." Then Amira disappeared to be replaced by a Lupe in scout armor. "We suggest immediate attack, there are too many bugs—AAGH!" then the Lupe dropped and what appeared to be one of the lower ranking scouts kneeled over him, checked his pulse, and said, "lots of bugs! Requesting immediate air support—RARGH!" then the hologram link went blank, and Amira returned. "This is why we need your team to investigate, Captain" Tigershadow nodded and said, "we'll assemble our aircraft, Trident Squad out" then Tigershadow disabled the comm link. He turned to Wajing, Drihy the Draik, their Intelligence Officer, H'dans, and Trideli, and said, "Looks like we have a mission, team."


	2. Prison Riot

-Swarm Part 2-Prison Base-

Private Wajing the Xweetok walked into the large Hangar. In the center was an A.T.A. (Attack Transport Aircraft) Its name, the S.M.A (Sakhmet Militia Aircraft) _Freefall._ Wajing stared at the Triangular shape. The Large cockpit extended a bit from the fuselage and at the spot where the cockpit and fuselage met, two curved triangular wings extended like fins from the entire fuselage. They were racked with missiles and machine guns of all kinds and at the rear stood an open ramp and to each sides, a pair of big exhaust pipes that propelled the airship, just like that of a space shuttle. Captain Tigershadow the Kougra was walking up the ramp when he saw Wajing, "you're late! Get in here or we'll leave you behind." "Yes, sir" said Wajing as he ran up the ramp. It closed behind them as Tigershadow and Wajing walked up to the cockpit. "Looks like you guys finally got here." said Corporal Trideli the Eyrie who was sitting at the control console, flight being his specialty. Intelligence Officer Drihy the Draik sat at the co-pilot's console, "all systems ready" said Drihy "open the doors" Trideli nodded and pressed a button, "tower, this is the S.M.A _Freefall_ requesting Hangar 12 to be opened" a moment later, a voice responded, "Identification cleared, good flying Trident Squad" and the massive doors began to open, revealing a runway which sat beside many more runways. The tower was the only structure that saved 6B's airport from being only hangars and runways. Drihy flipped a few switches and there was a "fwhoosh" as the thrusters of the _Freefall_ were activated. "Better strap in." said Trideli as he and Drihy both began flipping switches and pushing buttons. Wajing sat right beside H'dans while Tigershadow strapped in, alone, on the other side of the cockpit. The _Freefall_ began to move faster and faster and faster down the runway until the lifted off into the air. Several minutes later, Trideli said, "ok, you are free to unbuckle and move freely around the cabin." Everyone got up, even Drihy, and left to different parts of the _Freefall_.

"Tigershadow, get up here! There's something you need to see" said the speaker in Wajing's crew room. He looked up from his book. There was some scrabbling in the hallway and a minute later, the speaker turned on again, "Trident Squad, report to the cockpit, now!"

"We're going to need bigger guns" was H'dans' wise statement after he was finished staring at the picture before him. The prison facility was colossal, titanic, gargantuan, and several other words that described big. "Trideli, contact Queen Amira, quick!" the words Trideli then said were words that started one of the most heroic conflicts ever, "they've jammed our communications!" suddenly, the ship rocked and a nearby pipe cracked, spraying engine coolant all over the place until the emergency seals activated. "Trideli! Get us on the ground, quick! The rest of you! Battlestations!"

"Sir, there is a Neopian airship hovering above our installation." A bug informed Vickaten, the current leader of the bug army. Vickaten looked up from his throne. Revealing his face and the scar that crossed his forehead, "shoot it" then he looked back down, in deep thought, "yes, sir" then the bug walked away.

"Fire again! Fire again!" Wajing tried to obey but only destroyed a light AA gun from his turret as Trideli spun the ship around looking for a clearing to land in. H'dans stood at the machine gun beside him. "Helicopter! Shoot it, quick!" Wajing saw the threat and strafed its fuel tank until it blew up in a fiery haze. The speaker in the port turret room suddenly went off "this is Trideli! I've found a clearing, get full battle gear on, quick!" Wajing and H'dans dashed through the cabin, Tigershadow joining them along the way, until they all reached the plane's armory. "Plan of attack?" Asked Wajing as he strapped on some battle armor. "We haven't evaluated the battlefield enough for that yet" and then Tigershadow strapped a pistol onto his combat pants. "We didn't put my slugger in here?" complained H'dans. He then picked up the next best thing, a huge gatling gun.

"Get down!" shouted Tigershadow. Wajing dove for cover at the last second as tank's cannon rippled the air beside him. Then H'dans' jumped up and strafed it with a long burst. He ducked back down again and said, "I just knocked out their machine gun but we won't get anywhere with main cannon still shooting us up!" Tigershadow nodded and shouted at Wajing, "Try to sneak around and blow up that tank!" Wajing nodded and did something extremely stupid, that is, if you weren't good enough to do it. He vaulted over the sandbags and rolled right onto the battlefield. He ducked, he dodged, and all the time slowly making his way towards the tank. The gunners of the tank didn't seem to notice as the cannon was focused towards Tigershadow and H'dans. He took this advantage and rolled into cover right beside the tank, suddenly, something popped over his head, and he went unconscious.

"WAJING! WAJING!" Tigershadow kept screaming into his radio, after a while he finally stopped, "get back to the ship! There's no use throwing ourselves against their defenses like this!" H'dans frowned, "but—" a mortar exploded just a few feet away and the they both ran for it. When they got there, Trideli was wounded on the floor, "oh, Fyora" said Tigershadow, "what happened?" "a small team snuck in" rasped Trideli, "we held them off, but they captured Drihy and cut our engines, the ship can't fly" Tigershadow thought for a moment, and after a while, he asked, "can you still fly?" "What?" asked Trideli, "you're an Eyrie, you can fly, correct?" Trideli hesitated and said, "Yes" then Tigershadow looked to H'dans, "you can still fly, can't you?" "Yes, but I haven't in a while" then he joked, "do I need to take passengers?" he chuckled a bit, "no" said Tigershadow, "only Trideli has to" they were both dumbfounded for a moment and then H'dans grinned, "so… Trideli has to fly you out of here?" then he burst into laughter, "well I'm a Kougra, I can't scratch myself out of here or smell my way out of here." Then he added, "And stop laughing, the bugs could burst in at any given moment" they were both suddenly all business, "ok, since there's probably a battalion of bugs trying to get in here already, we're going to have to be quick" they both knew what to do already, it might as well have been written on the wall. Trideli went up to controls and opened the ramp, punching a quick override so it would take time to build up pressure, giving them seconds to prepare and opening the door extremely quick, "you ready?" asked Tigershadow, "ready" said Trideli, "steady" said H'dans, at that moment, the ramp opened up fast, crushing a bug, "GO!" they all ran out the door, trampling bugs as they did, H'dans jumped off the canyon first, extending his wings out and tucking his arms ont his thigh, thus, falling straight down the Cliffside, just because it looked cool. Trideli went next, he HAD to do the same, or else he wouldn't catch Tigershadow, who had no wings. Then Tigershadow went, also extending out his front legs, you can't be a soldier without having several occasions in which you do something just to look awesome. They all fell down, faces almost brushing the side of the canyon. Suddenly, Trideli hit the brakes by extending his wings, Tigershadow fell right onto his back, they all knew one thing, one thought that drove them on towards Outpost 6B, Wajing and Drihy will be rescued during the full invasion, they WILL.

"Give him the shot" "yes, sir" Wajing couldn't see a thing, he was tired, confused, and there was a sharp pain in his arm now. He finally regained movement and tried to sit up, something pushed him right back down on the uncomfortable surface. "Oops, forgot to put on the restraints" something shackled his arm and he couldn't move. He squirmed around a bit but it was no use. "Give him the other shot" "yes, sir" there was another sharp pain and he regained sight, looking down at him were two bugs, he did the natural thing even a brave soldier would do, he screamed as loud as he could. the bugs grimaced and covered their ears, "make him be quiet!" shouted the bug in the uniform, the one in the lab coat obeyed, he picked up a rather large stick and whacked him with it, Wajing stopped screaming, "why didn't you use the vocal toxin?" yelled the uniformed bug, "sorry, sir" "good, now get this thing inside a prison cell" "yes, sir" suddenly, the table he was on detached and two bugs with labcoats carried him away as a robotic arm came down and replaced the table. They carried Wajing, still on the table, down towards a large isolation chamber, obviously for extremely dangerous subjects, opened the door, and threw him inside. The first thing Wajing noticed was he was not alone in the prison. On one side of the large cell was a red Wocky, still clad in old battle armor. "Who are you?" asked the Wocky. Wajing was immediately all business, "Private Wajing, Xweetok, Green, Trident Squad of Battalion 6B" that right there, was the full identification of any soldier, rank, name, species, color, squad, battalion/post. The Wocky stared at Wajing for a while, then did a very surprising thing, she hugged him. "Wajing!" she yelled excitedly, "what are you doing here?" it took Wajing a few milliseconds or so to connect the dots, "Lrasta? I'm glad to see you! We thought you were dead!" he immediately added, "how do we get out of here?" they sat down on a long bench lining this side of the wall, "I've been working on that," said Lrasta, "I've gotten nowhere," she sighed with a resigned look on her face, "the fortress is invincible, we'd need the best IO in the whole darn Miltia," the door slid open, and a pair of bugs threw the best Intelligence Officer in the whole darn militia inside.


	3. The Arena

-Swarm Part 3-The Arena-

"So Drihy, "said Private Wajing the Green Xweetok, "how do we get out of this place?" IO Drihy the Red Draik got up off the floor of the large prison chamber, "well, first I need to think," then he looked at Private Lrasta the Red Wocky, "who's this?" Wajing smiled, "why, Drihy, this is Lrasta," said Wajing, making a gesture to the Wocky soldier sitting on a long bench, "Lrasta? She's still alive?" said Drihy, "yes, she is," answered Wajing, "I'm right here! Of course I'm still alive!" burst out Lrasta. Wajing added, "It looks like they saved an entire chamber for Trident Squad," as he looked around the large cell, "quite a big one too." Drihy went around examining the chamber, "hey! Look at this!" called Drihy from one side of the football field-sized prison chamber, "there's another, bigger, gate on this side, I'm gonna check it out!" Drihy went up to the large gate and examined it for a weakness. He noticed a big sticker on one of the iron bars, it said, "_Kacheek's arena gates. All your dueling needs fulfilled! Even made with Chiatech Iron!" _ Dueling? But this is a… Drihy turned from the gate and ran, "guys! Watch out!" he yelled, suddenly, bright lights turned on at the top of the chamber revealing windows and, bugs, staring out the windows. A loudspeaker turned on, "MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, WELCOME! TO THE TESTING ARENA! I WANT ALL OF YOU TO REMEMBER THIS IS PURELY TO TEST THE COMBATIVE ABILITY OF NEOPIANS. ANY CHEERING OR OTHER THINGS THAT WOULD BELONG IN AN ACTUAL DUELING ARENA ARE NOT PERMITTED. NOW WE WILL BE RELEASING SOME EXPERT FIGHTERS TO CHALLENGE THEM!" the speaker turned off, and the gate at the other end of the arena opened revealing a commando bug holding an automatic rifle. Small doors on the floor slid open and large blocks came up from the pit below. One also slid open right in front of Lrasta, and an Item stand came up holding what must have been a stolen rifle from the Sakhmet Militia armory. "I'll handle this guy," said Lrasta as she picked up the rifle, "you two get to cover!" Wajing ran to a low, wide barrier and ducked under it while Drihy ran to a tall, thin one and took cover. "Let's do this!" shouted Lrasta and she ran straight towards the bug, the bug hesitated, confused, then raised his rifle. Lrasta placed her foot on a low barrier in front of the bug and used it to jump up. Anticipating Lrasta to jump right over him, the bug raised his rifle higher and began to fire wildly at the ceiling, waiting for Lrasta to enter the deadly line of fire. Lrasta suddenly shifted weight in air and fell to the ground. She rolled right to the left of the bug and stood up behind him. The bug turned around and raised his rifle faster than you would expect but Lrasta thought like an Expert Skirmish player. The bug pulled the trigger but all his rifle did was make a clicking sound, his last thought was, _I wasted all my ammo on the ceiling!_ before Lrasta knocked him down with a brutal bash to the face from the stock of her rifle. She then fired a couple of sharp bullets into the bug. There was a gasp from the crowd of bugs watching from the ceiling. Lrasta darted back to cover as the gate opened again and a more experienced looking bug armed with two swords entered. Another pedestal rose from the ground revealing a double-bladed sword with a leather band in the middle as grip, "I'll take him," said Wajing as he took the blade. Wajing made a running start towards the bug for momentum and instead of using his momentum as the bug had expected, he held his sword high with both hands while the bug used one sword to attack Wajing from above while the other sword stood at one side as if waiting for Wajing to attack him from the side. The bug was startled and, using this opening, Wajing kicked the sword to one side and flicked the other one off of his blade towards the gate. He continued the flicking motion around once to gain momentum for an underhand cut and drove the back blade halfway through the bug's chest. The crowd gasped again, then cheered as the loudspeaker turned on and said, "THIS BUNCH IS PROVING TO BE DIFFICULT, WE WILL SEND OUT OUR FINEST SOLDIER YET!" whoever the finest soldier was, Lrasta forgot all sportsmanship and shot the bug before it could enter the arena and shouted, "quick! Through the door!" all three of them ran for it. They sprinted through the open gate and into what seemed to be a small lobby, on the other side was a pair of double doors and on the left and right sides were desks with computers. They didn't care what the room might have been for, and dashed out of them into blaring hot sunlight. Loudspeakers and alrms screamed at them but they dashed towards the closest airship in sight, it happened to be the _Freefall_. Inside they found ransacked rooms, and a lone bug wrapping up the restoration of the engines for study. They dropped him and dashed towards the cockpit, "Drihy get us out of here, keep the ramp open and I'll cover us!" shouted Wajing. He darted around, unhooked a rifle from one of the armory racks, and crouched in the entrance of the _Freefall_. He fired into the mass of bugs now crowded around the door they had used to exit. Drihy, sweat on his face, worked as hard as he could to get the ship online and in the air, quick. Lrasta dashed from place to place, helping Drihy to power up the thrusters. Wajing tossed a SNOball into the bugs, and ducked out of sight from their barrage of fire, "Drihy! Get those thrusters operational before they get their Anti-Aircraft towers working!" shouted Wajing. Drihy flipped the switches and turned the knobs until he finally flipped up the cracked glass casing of the ignition starter and pulled the lever into a take-off gear, "wrap it up! We're leaving!" Drihy shouted, Lrasta jumped into a seat and Wajing began to pull back as the ramp started to close. Wajing strapped into a seat as Drihy piloted the ship off towards the northwest, "where are we going?" asked Wajing, "yeah, six-bee is off towards the southeast," said Lrasta. Drihy hesitated, then said, "apparently I'm the only one not deaf, all the bugs there were talking about a huge Invasion on Shenkuu," Wajing and Lrasta had no Idea what Drihy was talking about but if Shenkuu was attacked, they would lose not only precious working metal, but also the fine weapons only Shenkuus' blacksmiths could forge, "shouldn't we alert Queen Amira then?" asked Lrasta, puzzled. Drihy sighed, and said, "No. Shenkuu is actually one mile closer than Outpost Six-Bee and we need to get mobilized as quick as possible, and, Shenkuu isn't in the Stone Age, we can send a transmission to Amira from there and tell them everything," Wajing began to say something but stopped and started thinking, then realized Drihy's reasoning and strategy was in perfect shape. Lrasta just said, "Tigershadow is going to be mad about this if he's still like I remember him," Wajing replied, "yes, Tigershadow will be very mad."


	4. Battle at the Prison

-Swarm-Part 4-Battle of the Prison Base-

Captain Tigershadow stood beside the Captain of the S.M.A _Lyric_, a massive air cruiser, flagship of the Sakhmet air fleet. "Tell your men to watch for mine, Glimna," the red Jetsam didn't look at Tigershadow, they both just stared out the window of the busy bridge. Glimna replied, "This assault is prepared enough to watch their fire," then she hesitated, "your people may not be alive anymore." Tigershadow still stared out the window grimly, "this may be the hardest mission the entire war," then Glimna turned her gaze to Tigershadow, "no, it isn't, I can feel it." A few moments of silence passed, and was interrupted by the First Mate, Hralek the blue Lupe, "we are closing in on the prison facility, you should come with me, Captain." A hand gesture showed he was referring to Tigershadow. Glimna watched Tigershadow a bit before he and Hralek disappeared into the bustling movement of the bridge, "I can feel it."

In the warship's bay, battalions of neopets loaded equipment onto gunships, fuel onto gunships, and themselves onto the gunships. Tigershadow and his temporary assistant Hralek walked onto one of the many ships. Tigershadow walked onto the gunship while Hralek stayed and loaded supplies onto the blade-propelled aircraft with the two other temporary soldiers, both Gelerts, twin brothers, Ksayy, the ranged professional who carried a large sniper rifle and only pistols as sidearms, and Yyask, the melee user who carried a longsword, shortsword, and several knives. As Tigershadow dropped into a crew seat, the two late arrivals, Trideli and H'dans, came into the cramped gunship. Trideli wordlessly sat into the pilot's chair, while H'dans made a witty remark about the small interior of the airship and sat directly right of Tigershadow, strange how people acted before other people die.

"Yyask!" screamed Ksayy as a sniper bullet pierced straight through the swordsman. An explosion incinerated Yyask's body before his knees even buckled. The assault had begun and the sounds of war were all around them. Tigershadow suddenly had an incoming transmission through his helmet, "Tigershadow, come in Captain Tigershadow," Tigershadow tossed out a SNOball and answered, "Tigershadow copy, Admiral Glimna, what's our situation?" A sudden explosion behind them signaled the gunship they came in was destroyed. Glimna answered, "Captain, you need to take your team and make your way into the building. Scans have shown that there is an entrance in the landing platform behind it, however, a substantial enemy force is gathering there to launch air defense, you need to disrupt or destroy the enemy aircraft before they can launch or else the bad guys go up one point." Captain Tigershadow waited a moment then signaled for TTS (Temporary Trident Squad) as they now called it, to sprint to the treeline farther into the large mesa. H'dans nailed another group with his slugger and then fell into the trees. They moved through the forest for a tenth of a mile until they actually reached the back of the prison and went up the stairs to the landing platform that hung over the edge of the mesa, suspended by two large poles attached to the top of the building. Just before TTS reached the end of the stairway, Tigershadow signaled for everyone to stop behind him. He peeked up and saw an entire platoon of bug pilots preparing their gunships. Tigershadow looked at the poles, then at his backpack which contained a pack of explosives, easiest decision he'd ever made. He began unfolding his legs to attach an explosive to the pole on this side, but what about the other one. He came up with a plan. Tigershadow threw the other pack as far as he could so it landed close enough. "Go! Go! Go!" Temporary Trident Squad rushed out onto the platform and inside the building before anyone could notice. Once safely inside, Tigershadow squeezed the remote activator. _Ka-blamo! Ka-Ka-Ka-blamo!_ There was a loud whining of metal as the platform fell off to the bottom of the canyon. "Could've had another explosive," suggested H'dans, "but impressive." "No time for chit-chat soldiers, Let's go." They had to find the master button, which immediately opened all cell doors, which was likely in the control room, which was probably up. The control rooms were always up, in fact, it would be a good idea to put it in an underground basement so no one would think it could be there. Tigershadow lead TTS through the narrow corridors of the prison until Ksayy pointed out a door on the left side of the wall, "hey, a stairwell" sure enough, inside was a stairwell with more doors at each floor until it reached the top floor. Basic definition of a stairwell. Temporary Trident Squad hustled up the stairwell, Tigershadow gripping his SSMR-v21 (Standard Sakhmet Militia Rifle version 21) as they got higher and higher and higher until Tigershadow ordered H'dans and Trideli on each side of the door to the control room. At Tigershadow's signal, H'dans kicked down the door so Hralek and Ksayy could go in, shooting each bug. When Hralek and Ksayy were fully inside, H'dans and Trideli followed doing the same. Tigershadow came last but looking like the tough, skilled commander he was. "Trideli, disable those anti-aircraft towers! H'dans, open all cells and armories! Ksayy and Hralek, get onto the roof and support our men!" ordered Tigershadow. While everyone was busy obeying their orders, Tigershadow walked to a desk and picked up the thick folder which contained info on all captured prisoners. He flipped to the Ws.

_Name: Wajing_

_Species: Xweetok_

_Color: Green_

_Status: ESCAPED_.

Tigershadow looked out a window as he put down the folder, _ESCAPED_. "Get Hralek and Ksayy." H'dans and Trideli looked up from their work and set eyes on Tigershadow, "Why?" inquired Trideli, "Wajing isn't here," answered Tigershadow, "well yeah, I don't see him" said H'dans. Tigershadow began moving to the ladder that lead to the roof, H'dans and Trideli followed. "No, I mean he isn't in the prison, he escaped." Now Tigershadow climbed the ladder while H'dans and Trideli absorbed the information. When he reached the top, he saw Ksayy and Hralek lying prone and still raining fire onto the losing bugs. Tigershadow didn't order them to do anything but get up while he ordered a small transport to pick them up.

Hologram Conference Room onboard the S.M.A _Lyric_.

"You're telling me your neopet isn't there?" yelled Queen Amira quite unformally, "Your highness, he already escaped and might even be at Outpost 6B waiting for us." Suddenly, Tigershadow looked down at a notice of an urgent hologram message arriving at Outpost 6B coming from Shenkuu. "Your highness, I may have to put the discussion on hold, there is an urgent message coming" "go ahead, captain." Tigershadow plugged his message machine into an outlet and, amazingly, the form of Wajing appeared "Captain" said Wajing, "Do not worry, I am not hurt and am in Shenkuu. But there is also some bad news," and Wajing told Tigershadow all about the planned attack on Shenkuu. The message ended, and was replaced by Amira "Your highness" mumbled Tigershadow, "we need to move our forces to Shenkuu." A frown appeared on the queen's face, "may I ask why, captain?" Tigershadow bent down and put his message device into another outlet to send it directly to Amira's room. That should be information enough.


	5. Arrival at Shenkuu

-Swarm Part Five-Arrival at Shenkuu-

Wajing, Lrasta, and Drihy stepped down the ramp onto the landing pad in Shenkuu. "So, Wajing, where are these 'acquaintances' of yours?" asked Lrasta. Wajing had told everyone that he had two old friends from the Militia in Shenkuu who manned a warehouse which was supposed to be the Sakhmet Militia presence there since Queen Lunara wouldn't give Sakhmet any rights to build a proper post there because Shenkuu wasn't fully at peace with Sakhmet after a big feud a long time ago. The friends' names were Sergeant Elpat and Sergeant Reyiss who were friends of Wajing from his old squad in Outpost 9T where he was posted before his skills were recognized higher and higher up the chain of command until word of Wajing finally reached the ears of General Tomos and Queen Amira after exterminating a large threat from a very organized criminal group founded by a vengeance-seeking green krawk by the name of Ksed. "Don't worry Lrasta, they'll be here." As if on cue, a red pteri and red ixi appeared out of the entrance cave that wound up to the top of Mount Shenkuu. "Wajing!" cried Elpat the pteri. "It's so good to see you!" cried Reyiss the ixi. Wajing smiled and went to meet his friends. "Come, there's the 'outpost' right up on that spire there" said Reyiss, pointing out a large warehouse on the small rock spire separated from the main body of Mount Shenkuu which this landing pad had been built into. Wajing, Drihy and Lrasta all followed Reyiss and Elpat up a winding set of stairs which lead up to the top of the rock spire. The warehouse wasn't much to look at. It was obviously worn and dirty, with the Sakhmet Militia logo, two shields surrounding an obelisk, above the large door. The five neopets went up to the left side of the door where a console was. Elpat pressed a button on the console, and the huge door slowly opened a crack to let everyone in. The warehouse was empty of crates with lots of computers, desks, and wires in the middle to serve as communications array. The three neopets walked up to the big mass of technology and Reyiss and Elpat began talking to Drihy and Lrasta. Wajing listened for a minute but eventually wandered off. A folder on a white desk caught his eye. As he picked it up, he saw it was labeled "First Encounter" The two words filled him with sorrow and dread. This was a file with the information on the First Encounter with bug forces, when they attacked Outpost 9T, right before Wajing was scheduled to set off for Outpost 6B. Wajing sat down and began flipping through the pages, memories of that fateful day began to enter his mind and batter it with despair of all that happened a year ago until the memories engulfed him in a vivid, horrifying flashback.

The Sandstorm troop helicopter descended until it touched the soil of Shenkuu. Out came Trident Squad, Tigershadow, H'dans, Ksayy, and Hralek. They came out behind the rearing form of the Great Wall of Shenkuu with its monoliths of towers which surrounded Shenkuu and still left hundreds of acres in between for farms. Sakhmet, Altador, Qasala, and Shenkuu, of course, were pouring troops and resources into the defense of Shenkuu because by now, most leaders have realized every city in the vicinity of the Altadorian Mountains were at risk from the bugs. Reinforcements from other cities around neopia were sending something to help because if the bugs take everything in one part of neopia, it's likely that they won't stop there, literally like a swarm devouring the world. A green female elephante walked up to Captain Tigershadow with her hands behind her back "Captain" said the elephante, "our scouts have reported the bugs are only a day's travel from the eastern Shenkuu border. What do you suggest our plan of action should be?" this was common, because people who didn't know him usually had the sense that Tigershadow was always in charge of everything unless the actual commander was standing right by them. "That will be General Tomos's decision when he arrives." Answered Tigershadow, "But if you require any advice Admiral" for this was Admiral Xrin who he was speaking to, Tomos's second in command "I would suggest moving Sakhmetian forces away from here and begin stationing them on and behind the eastern walls while suggesting for the other Generals to do the same." Xrin nodded in thanks and walked off to the Sakhmet Militia camp to carry out her new orders. Tigershadow made a gesture for the rest of Trident Squad to follow him into the camp when he turned around, a colossal shadow was blocking the sun behind him. His radio activated "_Thought you could use some more help" _Said Admiral Glimna.

A year ago…

8th day of Sleeping, Y1022

Outpost 9T, Minutes before "First Encounter"

Wajing and Driayhs the green gelert walked together along the walls of Outpost 9T, the bright sun shone upon the yellow sands of the Lost Desert. Driayhs had purposely signed up for patrol duty with Wajing so they could discuss Wajing's transfer and Wajing knew it. Driayhs acted innocent but Wajing expected him to bring up the topic at any moment. This was that moment. "Soooo" said Driayhs, "Have any thoughts on this new team you're being transferred to?" Driayhs and Wajing were best friends so the transfer would cause a lot of tension. "Only worried what Rekcol would do without me" Sergeant Rekcol, a yellow kougra, was leader of Squad 56. Driayhs laughed and voiced another question, "You really did do a good thing with the Ksed thing" said Driayhs, surprisingly seriously after his laugh, "You have a special talent for saving lots of people, I hope this Trident Squad is the right path for you to go" awkward silence reigned for a few seconds before Driayhs broke it again, "Use that talent, save lots of people." It was rather an emotional time between the two neopets. "I will" promised Wajing. Another minute was spent in silence until the two noticed something, something just blotted out the sun. Driayhs and Wajing looked up to see a massive figure fly under the sun and dozens of small specks were coming out of its bottom. As the specks got closer, Wajing and Driayhs saw that they were gunships, and the massive shape looming over them was a warship! Wajing activated his radio and spoke into it "Command, this is patrol five-two, we report an anomaly at the—" suddenly, there was a big flash and Wajing was flung to the side. His head hit the stone and he was unconscious for about thirty seconds. When he regained conscious, he just saw lots of orange and red flashes and felt a searing pain in his head. When he regained his senses, he saw that they were under attack, and a shell had slammed into the wall, right where Driayhs was. Wajing realized this and began frantically crawling towards the hole in the wall. The only thing left of Driayhs was a bit of gore smeared on some rubble. Now Wajing's vision was blinded with pain and tears. Driayhs was gone. Driayhs was his friend. And these ruthless attackers had done it. Who were they to make him feel such sadness? He would've just stayed in that place until the unknown attackers had killed him as they did Driayhs but his mind told him that he needed to get up. He rolled over and took his rifle. He then got onto his knees and peeked over the battlements. He had obviously been grieving longer than he thought because the attackers had already breached the gate of Outpost 9T and were flowing in. He had to duck back down as the attackers took several potshots at him but he had seen what they were. They weren't even neopets, just bugs, bugs which stood upright and were about the size of a normal Ruki but had features closer to that of a Buzz's except they didn't have wings. Wajing's breath quickened, what are they? Just then, he felt another explosion except it wasn't directed at him. It was aimed for the bugs. Their bodies and body parts flew through the air and Wajing looked up into the sky. The gunships still came and the warship still blocked the sun but a smaller airship came from the west, bigger than the gunships but smaller than the warship. Wajing realized it was a specially modified Sakhmetian Attack-Transport Airship, with the same features of the ship scheduled to pick him up. He unfolded a pair of binoculars and trained them on the airship. _S.M.A. Freefall_. The name of the ship scheduled to pick him up. Suddenly, the _Freefall_ changed courses and came towards Outpost 9T, it's cape-like wings made it appear an intimidating foe. More missiles and shells came down near him but now Wajing just stood straight up, waving his arms in the air. The airship came closer and closer until it was right in front of him, turning around so the ramp on its rear was close to him. The ship's machine guns were holding off the bugs and now a red kougra in the ship was yelling at him and making big hand gestures for him to jump in, adding to the noise. Wajing took one last look at the base he had started his career as a soldier at, then jumped.

Present Day,

29th day of Hiding, Y1023

Sakhmet Militia warehouse in Shenkuu.

A strong arm shook Wajing from his slumber on the desk. He shot up into the seat and saw Elpat beside him. Elpat wore a grim expression and said four words, four words that put Wajing into the most gruesome battle ever fought in modern times, contesting even fights like the siege on the Darigan Citadel. Those four words were, "The bugs are here!"


	6. Battle for Shenkuu

Swarm-Chapter 6-Battle for Shenkuu

The glowing orb called sun set on the horizon though still barely visible through the thick sheets of smoke that drifted through the air. The sky had a reddish tinge to match the reddish tinge on the ground. And all around were the feelings of war. The screams that chilled your spine and the deafening blast of cannons. The sights of valiant warriors torn to shreds in an instant. The feelings of war. Trident Squad was pinned down behind the battlements of the Great Wall of Shenkuu. "H'dans! Pound them with AP Slugs! Trideli! Air support now! Ksayy! Snipe their front lines! Hralek-" but Captain Tigershadow's voice was drowned out by another cannon shell slamming into the wall and another sheet of blood dampened his fur. Tigershadow's B-FSGv9 (Belt-Fed Suppressor Gun version Nine) was running out of ammunition fast. "If we don't get more supplies now then the bugs will have a chance to scale the wall!" Just as he finished his sentence a bug's face popped up. It received a strong bash by the stock of Tigershadow's gun. H'dans looked over the wall to see a dozen more bugs trying to find footholds. "They're climbing the wall!" shouted H'dans and then he launched another AP Slug into the mass of bodies both dead and alive. Tigershadow and Hralek punched holes into the bugs that were climbing the wall in as much time as it took Ksayy to load his SML-RSRv20. (Sakhmet Militia Long-Range Sniper Rifle version Twenty) Tigershadow shouted words of encouragement "Hold your lines! The enemy may be strong but we are stronger! The enemy may be fast but we are faster! The enemy may be smart but we are surely smarter!" as if to exclamate his words a half-dozen bug squads were wiped out by the flagship of the Sakhmet Militia Air Fleet. The S.M.A. _Lyric, _surrounded by smaller airships. And then, as if to counter, The same amount of neopets were blown away. Tigershadow along with most of the Sakhmet Militia, Qasalan Army, and Altadorian Guard looked up to see a gargantuan bug airship also surrounded by it's fair share of escorts. "Take cover! That airships is targeting the wall!" screamed Tigershadow. He then turned around and shouted, "JUMP!" Trident Squad jumped off the wall along with a number of other soldiers. Though a few were still on the wall when shells and missiles rained down from the bug airship, ripping into the wall and punching out holes and gaps. A few seconds of awkward silence ensued before bugs started pouring through the holes in the wall. "I knew we wouldn't be able to hold them off" said Trideli as he swooped in beside Tigershadow. "We can, just need more explosions, and guns, and swords, and-" H'dans was cut off by Ksayy as the gelert replaced the ammo cartridge on his sniper rifle, "I think you both need to cut the chat and hold off the bugs!" "I agree with Ksayy, grab some cover!" yelled Tigershadow as he sank several bullets into the mass of enemies.

Wajing looked down onto the battlefield of Shenkuu, grasping a hydraulic pipe that lowered the exit ramp of the S.M.A. Freefall as the ship hovered in the air. "We're above the wall, it appears we're losing as well." stated Drihy from the pilots chair of the Freefall. Lrasta was peering over Drihys shoulder, "Sure enough, the bugs just got past the wall." Reyiss and Elpat were in the airships armory zipping up combat vests, checking ammunition, gathering grenades, too immersed in their tasks to listen to anything except Wajing's orders. Lrasta left the control chair and walked over to Wajing who was still standing on the open ramp staring down at the violence below him. "So, can you see Tigershadow down there?" she asked playfully, only something a calm proffesional member of Trident Squad could do in times of battle like this. "No, but I think H'dans is the one surrounded by the explosions" then the explosions stopped, "Nevermind, I think he found a minigun." The two neopets stepped away from the dizzying height and began making their own preparations for the coming violence. Once everyone was ready for a bit of parachuting, Elpat asked "Any orders, sir?" Wajing nodded and said, "Drihy, you are to stay in the Freefall and provide air support as well as occasional reports of what you can see of the battle." Drihy didn't provide any sign of acknowledgement. Then Wajing checked the parachute, and jumped.

"Cover me, I'm gonna grab this minigun." said H'dans as he moved toward a pile of crates and boxes which several rifles and other equipment were propped up against, including an intimidating minigun. Tigershadow crouched and dispatched another barrage of lead towards the bugs. Though they were trying their best, Trident Squad and the line of neopian soldiers were always being pushed back, gradually shuffling towards the base of Mount Shenkuu. The waves of bugs loosened up as another collection of white-hot shells slammed into the ground from the S.M.A. Lyric, sending limbs and bodies flying into the air and a shower of blood and dirt. H'dans had obviously gotten to the minigun as now the bugs were slightly falling back. H'dans moved up beside Trideli and held his ground there. He did notice a lack of action from Trideli and looked to see him staring up at the airbattle, "What's your problem?" said H'dans, still not loosening his squeeze on the trigger. "Well, I can't be sure rom that height but... Isn't that the Freefall?" H'dans looked where Trideli was pointing and, sure enough, a familiar Attack Transport Aircraft was circling the battle taking out several enemy airships and helicopters. "Uhhhhh... I guess?" a moment of awkward silence then H'dans resumed his assault with the minigun. Trideli shrugged and brought the stock of his SSMAR-v21 back into his armpit and went back into battle by H'dans's side. Trident Squad was now able to start pushing the bugs back a bit with help from the minigun but the line of ordinary soldiers weren't having the same level of success. Hralek sent bullets flying into two more bugs with his SSMS-AARv27 (Standard Sakhmet Militia Semi-Automatic Assault Rifle version twenty-seven) Tigershadow's last bullet belt slipped out of his suppressor gun and he had to switch to his secondary weapon, a SSMSMGv18 (Standard Sakhmet Militia SubMachine Gun version eighteen) Fyora forbid he had to fight back the bugs with his pistol, a PCPv19.

The thrill Wajing was experiencing suddenly stopped when he pulled the string on his parachute and came to a halt a bit farther from the battle than they had hoped. Reyiss and Lrasta had landed relatively close to Wajing but Elpaty had actually landed near the battle and Wajing could see him waving from a distance. Lrasta and Reyiss traversed the two dozen meters separating them and they met together. "Check your ammo and weapons" said Wajing as a radio signal came in through his helmet comm *_Wajing, you have landed one kilometer from Captain Tigershadow's position, recommend going to the battle while I soften up their air support*_ came Drihy's altered radio voice. Wajing didn't reply but gestured for Reyiss and Lrasta to follow him until they met up with Elpat. It only took them halfway to the battle as Elpat took to the air and cut half off the time it would've taken him to get to Wajing. "Elpat!" said Reyiss as Elpat swooped down beside him, folding his wings around an SSMSG-v19 (Standard Sakhmet Militia ShotGun version nineteen) After a quick reunion, the group resumed their approach to the fighting. It wasn't long before they encountered bug runners, wounded neopians, and less long before they were in full-blown violence. They had apparently miscalculated and ended up far to the left of Trident Squad. But they couldn't possibly go to them now that they had encountered the bugs. Wajing unstrapped his souvenir from the bug prison, the double-bladed sword he had been given in the arena, for the close quarters combat. The benefits, more combat efficiency on Wajing's part and more severed limbs than guns usually throw on the ground. Wajing sent a bug's hand spinning into the air then swithed targets in the blink of an eye and ran his sword through a bug which came out the other end and just went into another. He withdrew the sword from the falling corpses and went into another flurry of cutting, hacking, stabbing, and slicing.

The bug onslaught strengthened suddenly and forced Trident Squad across the blood-stained ground until the found a pile of sandbags and crates to hold ground behind. "There's too many of them!" screamed Trideli as half a dozen more bugs fell to his rifle. "Don't fall back! If they get any closer than Shenkuu is in range of their artillery!" ordered Tigershadow as he ducked behind a large crate lying on it's side to replace his ammunition cartridge. One advantage that Trident Squad had was the bugs were so thick that you couldn't possibly miss if you fired and H'dans blew huge chunks out of their assault force with his AP Slug launcher and newly-accquired minigun. Bugs fell, neopians fell. Bones were shattered, wounds were repaired. Living things died, living things died. The ground was now so dense with bodies and gore it made one think their was not even ground under them. Trident Squad and the remaining mix of soldiers were the only remaining barrier between the bugs and the destruction of Shenkuu. Tigershadow finished installing another cartridge and lifted the submachine gun over his head to send more bullets flying at the bugs. Inhuman screams echoed across the field as another barrage of shells rained down on the neopian defenders. _Why doesn't the Lyric destroy that enemy warship? _thought Tigershadow. As if Glimna heard his thoughts, the Lyric began launching missiles at the bug airship and the two ships grappled with eachother, lessening the amount of fire on the neopians but also that of the bugs. Hralek dropped another cartridge then dropped seven more bugs. Ksayy had switched out his weapon for another of the same kind Tigershadow was using due to the circumstances. This had made him much more efficient. A SNOball grenade detonated in the midst of the mass of bugs sending bodies and body parts flying.

Drihy weaved his way through the intense anti-aircraft turret fire coming from the bug airship. Before long, he had taken refuge close to the underbelly of the warship. He could see plenty of turrets which couldn't see him and sent missiles at them, knocking out three quarters of the cannons oppressing the neopians on the ground until he was out of missiles avalable for fire at the moment. Just then, a large missile from the Lyric missed the Freefall by meters and blew a hole in the underbelly of the airship large enough for the Freefall to fit in. Unsuspecting engineer bugs toppled out of the hole the Lyric's missile had created. _Just big enough for me to fit through. _Thought Drihy as he hovered under the ship. A flashing light indicated another set of missiles were armed for launch and Drihy smiled. Moving to a position just under the hole, Drihy set a course for each of his missiles to take, each one travelled to a different part of the airship. This strike would surely destroy the ship but also possibly catch the Freefall in it's explosion radius. It was a risky move. Crossing talons on one hand, Drihy used the other to repeatedly press the missile launch button. Each missile that was armed simultaneously fired and began snaking it's way through the bowels of the bug warship. Wasting no time, Drihy turned and began descending as fast as he could. Ten seconds until the missiles would hit their targeted spots. One second, he was still in the blast radius. Two seconds, he was still in the blast radius. Three seconds, he was still in the blast radius. Four seconds, he was a quarter of the way out of the blast radius. Five seconds, he was a quarter of the way out of the blast radius. Six seconds, he was a quarter of the way out of the blast radius. Seven seconds, he was halfway out of the blast radius. Drihy calculated that the Freefall would not make it at his current speed. There were few possibilities of escaping. As they taught in the Sakhmet Militia IO Academy, he chose the least impossible possibility. Drihy shut down the engines. The Freefall was freefalling towards the ground. Nine seconds, out of the blast radius. Ten seconds, destruction of enemy warship imminent. Suddenly, the entire bottom half of the bug airship fell off, hurtling towards ground just like the Freefall was now. This was when Drihy flipped the engine switches back on, and hovered only meters from the ground. Drihy sat back in the pilot's seat, releasing a breath he had held ever since the missiles were launched. He would never do something like that again of his own will.

A blinding flash took the eyes of every one on the ground for five whole seconds until it released them enough so that some may see what had caused the flash. The entire bottom half was hurtling towards ground followed by the top half. Each and every neopet of all of the countries of the Southern Altadorian Mountains cheered. Cheered for lost loved ones and for the victory that was surely waiting for the forces of neopia. Flaming debris crashed into the bug ranks as well as cannon shells from the Lyric until nothing of the assault force in front of them remained except a handful of wounded bugs. Neopian soldiers charged towards the Great Wall of Shenkuu which they could now retake and win the battle. H'dans and Trideli stood side by side, both grinning at the annihilation of the bug forces. "That was pretty impressive, huh?" said H'dans, gazing at the lovely fireworks. "Yes, Neopia has won this day for sure." said Trideli. Then they both heard the hiss of a bullet going through flesh, a limp body dropping to the ground, and Hralek scream "TIGERSHADOW!" the voice of a kyrii broke the silence shouting, "They have a sniper on the wall!" before the kyrii had finished his sentence, Ksayy fired at the sniper, taking it out before it could kill anyone else. But the damage had been dealt. Trideli, H'dans, Hralek, and Ksayy rushed to kneel by Tigershadow. He lay on the ground, gasping for life. The bullet had pierced his left lung and sent a shard of rib bone hurtling through his flesh to puncture the other. Hralek, being the most experienced with medical procedures, began trying to repair Tigershadow's wound. With his last few breaths, Tigershadow gasped, "Wajing... is the... the new leader... of Trident Squad" this caused a spark of confusion in Trideli because, as second highest rank, he should have become leader of the squad on the occasion of Tigershadow's death. But the spark died out with Tigershadow as his feline kougra eyes lost a light that had been there every second he had lived.


End file.
